Mike Cullen (shot put), Colin Goligoski (Heptathlon), Esther Jandrich (pole vault), and Martina Ware (shot put) will represent Concordia University at the NCAA DII Indoor Track and Field Championships on March 13^th and 14^th. They are the first Golden Bears to qualify for the national tournament since 2010.

These four teammates have attended most of the same meets over the course of their collegiate careers. But, the paths that led them to the same airplane headed to Alabama where they will compete at Division II's highest level - couldn't be more different. But, for all the seniors, there came a time when they had to decide to dedicate themselves to track and field. And they all made the same decision.

 
It was a few weeks after he had decided to stop playing baseball that Colin Goligoski happened upon track and field.

The St. Paul native was working out at his gym, just minutes away from Concordia University, where he was a freshman. A conversation began with Troy Shoberg, the high jump coach for the Golden Bears track and field team. Shoberg saw Goligoski's 6'5 height and lean build, and suggested that he try high jumping. It was then that Goligoski's track and field journey began.

Goligoski had never competed in track and field in his life. He had decided to leave Concordia's baseball team after the fall semester and when the opportunity to join the track and field team in the spring of 2011 arose, he agreed; more as a way to stay in shape than anything. But the sport became much more than a training regimen.
"I have grown to love track more than any other sport I have played." Goligoski says. He finds life lessons in many different aspects of the sport.

The former baseball, football, and basketball player at Central High School, has learned a lot about his newest sport in a relatively short period of time. Concordia track and field head coach Sam Johnson is impressed with his work ethic. "He's very much a student of the game. I've never seen a guy just immerse himself in something as much as he has. Even though he's only been doing track for five years, he's got more track knowledge than a lot of kids that have been doing it all through high school."

After competing in high jump in his first outdoor season, Goligoski started learning many different events – on his way to becoming a decathlete and heptathlete. In his first competition in the decathlon he tied the school record. After a couple years of injury issues, in the fall of 2013, he announced to his teammates that he was dedicated to getting to a national meet. Johnson knows the importance of doing that. "A public goal, when you declare it and people know about it, [creates] some accountability for you to live up to."

 
From spinning through the air and landing upright, to maneuvering over a bar at the peak of flight and collapsing into padding, Esther Jandrich traded the gymnastics vault for the pole vault when she came to Concordia.

After competing in gymnastics during her high school years, and only two years of track and field experience (just sprints and hurdles, no pole vaulting), Jandrich arrived at college as a pole vaulting blank slate.

Pole vaulters often come from the gymnastics world because they have good awareness of their body in the air. Jandrich, who graduated from Forest Lake High School, was not at all surprised when the idea of training for the pole vault was presented to her by Phill Erickson, the Concordia University pole vault coach.

Jandrich ramped up her training in the pole vault in her sophomore season. And the following years brought mixed amounts of success. In last summer's offseason preparation, she went above what she had done in the past. "I really honed in on my mental game and trained harder in the weight room than I normally had. I knew I had to put all of the pieces together this year or I would lose my last chance."

 
Mike Cullen was a football player.

The Packer fan from Green Bay, Wisconsin, was recruited to Concordia to be a lineman. After breaking his ankle in an unfortunate pick-up basketball game during his freshman year, he didn't know if he would play any sports again. He endured two ankle surgeries. He was forced to give up football. Then, he turned all his attention to track.

Cullen had thrown shot put and weight since middle school and greatly enjoyed the sport. But he describes football as his first love.  He planned to throw in college, but that was secondary to football. When throwing was forced to the forefront, Cullen says, it was a blessing in disguise.

He became a leader on the track and field team and set records while improving every season that he competed. Cullen's fourth year ended, and he had to determine if he was going to return for a fifth year. A lot of deliberation went into the decision. But in the end, he came back. He had a year of track and field eligibility left, due to his injuries, and he made it clear that the desire to qualify for the national meet was the reason he was returning.

 
Martina Ware aimed for big things in track and field before she arrived at college.

Ware came to Concordia with goals to make a mark. "I came in freshman year;" she admits, "it is kind of cocky, but I wanted to clear the board and put my name on all the records."

Like her counterpart in the male throws, Ware has had two ankle surgeries during her time as a Golden Bear. Her collegiate career has been up and down. Her throws coach Mandy Federici would love to see her continue throwing in some capacity after college. Her head coach says that this season has just been the tip of the iceberg of what she is capable of.

Go to the track and field records page on cugoldenbears.com and look under indoor women's shot put and weight throw, and you will see that Ware is well on her way to accomplishing her goals, cocky or not.

 
Now, Goligoski, Jandrich, Cullen, and Ware have finished their seasons strong at the NSIC championships. They set records and took top finishes. They qualified for the NCAA Meet. Concordia has never had four athletes compete in the national championships.

"We put in a lot of work over the years and I hope that we have started a new trend and atmosphere at Concordia track." Says Goligoski. Jandrich also acknowledges the importance this holds for the progression of the track and field team. "We're building the foundation for what the coaches envision the program becoming."

Each of these four want to represent Concordia and their teammates well. "I am honored and blessed to be one of the four to start the track team back on a growing path." Says Ware.

Goligoski, the captain of the team, articulates once more, what his teammates are feeling.
"We all set goals and did everything it took to get there. I don't think we knew if we could, or how it would feel when we did achieve these goals. But I feel confident that all of us would say this is one of the best achievements we have had in our lives athletically so far."

These student-athletes faced unusual circumstances and injuries over their careers. They expect a lot from themselves and that is why their goals often need to be recommitted to. Cullen summed up the mindset when asked to reflect on their accomplishments leading up to the national championships. "We are not yet satisfied and we all have our work cut out for us to reach the podium."

These four athletes have wrapped up an indoor season in which they set both personal, and school records. They have raced, jumped, thrown, and vaulted themselves to be among the top Division II track and field athletes in the country.

Let's see what they put their minds to next.